Seeing the confused looks on everyone’s faces, Cloud Retainer and Moon Carver exchanged a silent glance.
“Looks like… they don’t know his true identity?”
“We barely recognized him ourselves. It’s not surprising. But the real question is—should we tell them?”
“I can sense his power is still very weak. He likely hasn’t been awake for long. His mind and strength have regressed to a child-like state. If we tell them who he truly is, it might change how they interact with him—and that might not be a good thing.”
“Still, that child is Ping’s disciple, isn’t she? And she didn’t even tell us about the Stove God awakening?! I’m paying her a visit in Liyue Harbor tomorrow!”
“And what do we tell them?”
“Just say he’s an old friend of ours. What, you think they’ll hound us until we reveal every detail?”
The two adepti spoke in hushed, telepathic tones—nothing their mortal companions could hear.
“Honored adepti,” Xiangling asked cautiously, “do you know who Guoba is?”
“Oh? You call him Guoba?” Moon Carver turned to the little creature.
Guoba nodded, eyes bright and cheerful. “Lu-luuu~!”
He liked that name. It made him feel warm inside.
“He seems fond of it,” Moon Carver smiled.
“How did you meet him?” he asked, politely adopting the name they used.
“Well…” Xiangling rubbed the back of her neck. “I was out looking for ingredients one day when it started to rain. I ducked into this old temple to wait it out. When I woke up, Guoba was just… there.”
To be honest, she’d never fully understood how it happened. The only thing she did in that temple was something anyone would do—she’d offered a little food at the altar out of respect.
When she opened her eyes, Guoba had been munching on the offering.
Maybe he’d been drawn by the scent?
Whatever the reason, from that day on, he stuck by her side. Because he loved eating guoba (crispy rice), she named him after it.
“…I see. That’s quite the fated encounter,” Cloud Retainer mused.
Fate was strange like that. Perhaps it was precisely because of Guoba that Ping had accepted Xiangling as a disciple.
“Guoba was once our dear companion,” Cloud Retainer continued. “During the Archon War, he expended all his power and fell into slumber. To wake now, and meet you again… it’s a blessing of destiny.”
With that, she left his identity at that—neither revealing nor denying, but gently sealing the truth beneath warm words.
The tension had lifted again. Finally, Chongyun tugged at Xingqiu’s sleeve, still looking bewildered and a little panicked.
“What… happened while I was out? Did I do something embarrassing again?”
Xingqiu’s eyes sparkled with mischief.
“Oh, absolutely. You hugged your aunt and started bawling like a baby. Then you insisted on feeding her the whole pig’s head and demanded to know why she was so thin. You were this close to dragging her off to confront the adepti!”
“W-what?! Really?!” Chongyun’s face turned scarlet. His jaw dropped in horror.
He… hugged Shenhe?
No way. No way!
Shenhe glanced his way, her usual stoic expression chilling as ever. The moment her eyes met his, Xingqiu’s bravado faltered, and he cleared his throat.
“…Alright, fine. That part was a lie. You didn’t cry. You just asked if she was doing well. That’s it.”
“You—!” Chongyun grit his teeth, molars grinding like a millstone.
He really thought he’d cried into his aunt’s arms. That would’ve been the end of him. How utterly humiliating!
“It was just a joke!” Xingqiu chuckled nervously, inching toward the woods.
Seeing the two adepti still lounging on the side, snacking on sunflower seeds and sipping tea while chatting with Guoba, Xingqiu seized the opportunity for escape.
“With all these guests, we’re gonna need more food for dinner! I’ll go gather ingredients!”
And just like that, he slipped into the forest.
Xiangling blinked, then turned back to the adepti.
“Would the two adepti like to stay for dinner?”
“Lu-luuu~!” Guoba added with a cheerful invite.
Having now been formally invited, the two food-loving adepti were more than happy to accept.
Moon Carver glanced at Guoba, who looked a lot less intimidating than before now that he was in his human form.
“Well, if you insist—we’d be delighted. It’s been so long since I’ve had a meal prepared by Guoba.”
Cloud Retainer cleared her throat, donning an air of nobility.
“Indeed. It has been ages since I last tasted mortal cuisine.”
Shenhe fought the urge to speak. Master… you literally just ate like fifteen minutes ago.
But seeing Cloud Retainer maintain such a composed facade, she wisely held her tongue.
“What kind of flavors do you prefer?” Xiangling asked. If she was going to prepare a proper dinner, she needed to get started now.
“Anything’s fine,” said Moon Carver. “We trust your judgment.”
“Got it. Adepti, please have a seat. Guoba, take care of them while we go forage.”
“Lu-luuu~!”
Guoba thumped his chest proudly. Leave it to him!
“Jiang Bai, go chop some bamboo—see if you can find any bamboo shoots too. I’ll make zhútǒng fàn tonight.”
“On it.” Jiang Bai sipped the rest of his drink and wandered toward the grove.
“Hu Tao, go catch us some big bass.”
“Easy!” Hu Tao rolled up her sleeves, kicked off her shoes, and headed for the creek.
“Chongyun, check the forest for matsutake mushrooms. I’ll make mushroom-mountain chicken soup.”
“Alright.” Chongyun gathered his talismans. He still wasn’t sure why there were so many lying around, but he figured he’d ask later.
Shenhe stepped forward. “What would you like me to do?”
Xiangling thought for a moment. “Could you collect some soft clay? And some big lotus leaves. If you find any lotus seeds, bring those too.”
She had plans for the second chicken—lotus leaf beggar’s chicken.
Shenhe didn’t quite understand what the clay was for… but she nodded and went to work.
Watching the group of young people hustle around, Cloud Retainer nodded approvingly.
“Quite a promising bunch, aren’t they?”
“Lu-luuu~!”
They’re all his good friends!
Moon Carver gave a faint chuckle. “Still… with all these kids working hard, it wouldn’t be right if we just sat here and did nothing.”
He turned meaningfully to Cloud Retainer.
“You have the most gadgets. Shouldn’t you contribute something?”
Cloud Retainer sighed, but obligingly pulled something out.
“I made these long-distance voice earrings a while ago. I meant for Shenhe to use them if she ever traveled far—just in case she needed to leave me a message. But they’ve got limits: the farther the distance, the shorter the message. And you can only use them once every three days. So I set them aside and forgot about them.”
Even for adepti, these were useful tools—and a fitting gift to repay hospitality.
“But there are only two,” Moon Carver noted. “Hard to divide evenly.”
“That’s easy—I’ll make more.”
She picked a clear spot and summoned her personal workshop, immediately setting to work crafting more thousand-mile voice earrings.
Moon Carver sipped his tea calmly, chatting casually with Guoba.
“Well, Guoba… looks like it’s just the two of us now.”
“Lu-luuu~”
“Have you seen the Geo Archon in Liyue Harbor lately?”
“Lu-luuu~”
—
This is a fan translation of 胡桃拿我冲业绩 by 余溯. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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